A technology blog created by an educator whose goal is to de-tech and share 'teacher-tested' technologies for classroom use.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The Talking Voki Avatar

Voki breathes life into any avatar! Give it a try.As demonstrated, Voki is a fun and interactive web tool designed to create speaking avatars. Students enjoy creating avatars with Voki as it is a fun and creative way to verbally demonstrate their knowledge in a safe environment. Other features of Voki include:1. Voki offers many opportunities to share avatars including email, embed code or direct access to your favorite social media site. 2. The free version of Voki includes an educational section with many lesson planning ideas for all grades and subject areas. Lesson ideas are easily accessed using the site's search tool. 3. Voki offers a paid version as well which provides educators with a class management system, ready-made lessons, and how-to tutorials. There are several pricing plans available but it is wise to try their 15 day free trial first.A quick how-to guide to get your students started with Voki is available below.Getting Started with Voki

Sample Classroom Activities:1. Ice Breaker Activity - to get the school year off to a positive start, have students create a short autobiography to introduces themselves to their new classmates.2. Website Homepage Introduction - verbally introduce yourself and the purpose of the website using a Voki avatar on the homepage of any website.3. "Exit Ticket" - before students leave class, have them outline what they learned.4. Reflection tool - have students reflect or summarize the key points/issues of a literary work.I am confident your students will enjoying using Voki. Give it a try! Click here to get started.This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.